Even as every fifth adult in India is diabetic and the footprint of the disease is enlarging in the State, the issue has found no place in election manifesto of any political party.
More than 40 per cent of deaths in India between the age group of 35-64 years are due to non-communicable diseases of which 17 per cent are caused by diabetes.
November 14 is celebrated as the World Diabetes Day. Changing lifestyle and eating habits have affected our genes and made our bodies more prone toward diabetes, often referred to as mother of all diseases. Paralysis, ailments related to heart, blood pressure and all high-risk disease have their roots in diabetes.
“It is unfortunate that the awareness programmes by NGOs have been hijacked by the Government and curative measures are preferred over preventive measures,” said Dr Viplov Bandhopadhyay, diabetes specialist.
Another concept that is gaining popularity to cure the disease is called reverse diabetes. This means measures taken to reduce dependency on type 2 diabetes medications, effectively reversing the progression of the illness by working on one’s diet. However, Dr Bandhopadhyay said that in a State like Chhattisgarh, where majority of the population lives in villages, often diabetes patients are not obese and thus regulating their diet alone will not be very fruitful in controlling of diabetes.
Majority of our country’s population does not even know that they are suffering from diabetes. Frequent urination, disproportionate thirst, intense hunger, increased fatigue and blurred vision are some
symptoms of the disease.
When detected at an early stage, it can be controlled and even reversed, said Dr Bandhopadhyay.